Pipeline Operation Begins Carrying Oil To Port Everglades

The Exxon Corporation`s $4.5 million pipeline has begun carrying Florida crude oil from the Big Cypress National Preserve to Port Everglades, officials announced.

Corporate officials are scheduled to appear this morning before the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District to discuss plans to restore a narrow, 10-mile path of Everglades in Broward County damaged in the construction of the pipeline.

Exxon`s newest pipeline runs about 23 miles from the giant oil company`s Raccoon Point oilfield in Big Cypress to an Exxon pipeline that runs across Everglades Conservation Area 3A to the seaport in Fort Lauderdale.

The South Florida Water Management District, which owns 10 miles of pipeline right of way in Broward County, ordered Exxon in December to repair the sawgrass habitat damaged in the construction.

District officials said the environmental effects on wildlife and other concerns will be minimal, but said they will require the restoration effort anyway.

The remaining 13 miles are subject to regulation by other agencies.

David Unsell, a water management district troubleshooter who helped monitor the project, said the pipeline passed tests conducted Sunday and Monday and was approved for operation at one-half of the pressure of the test runs.

Initially, the pipeline will carry 2,500 barrels of oil a day from Raccoon Point, where 10 other wells are already producing and another is being drilled, said S.D. Tallant, superintendent of operations for Exxon`s Pensacola district.

Florida has authorized the drilling of up to 25 wells clustered on pads at Raccoon in eastern Collier County.

During the digging of the pipeline the contractor exceeded the 40-foot right- of-way granted in permits for the construction, primarily while moving pieces of heavy equipment past each other. In some places, areas as wide as 150 feet were damaged, but Exxon officials contend that state officials requested the workers go over undamaged areas to avoid repeated trips over one route.

Moreover, Wally Palmer, an Exxon official, told the district`s governing board that the company had a verbal agreement in 1983 with the state to permit right-of-way violations, which the company considered unavoidable.

Unsell said once the district installed inspectors on the job site in mid- December, the ``number of right-of-way violations dropped dramatically.``

He also said the company recently hired a consultant to work on the restoration plan, but said he doubted any detailed proposal would be presented today.

The pipeline was built to eliminate the need for convoys of tanker trucks to run through the Big Cypress and haul crude oil to the port. Truck accidents had caused environmental problems.